Kangaroo Island, Australia

Statements

“There has been a notion that contemporary art can’t be beautiful, but this is very beautifully executed.”
Nick Mitzevich, Director, Art Gallery of South Australia (37th Alice Prize Judge)

“Suspended disbelief draws the viewer instantaneously… Her work cannot be easily passed over; it draws one into it, demanding concentration on a number of levels, one of which is often missing in contemporary art today – that of contemplative engagement by the viewer.”
Jan Jones, Australian Art Review

“These are enigmatic works which sit just as comfortably as an ancient artefact or as contemporary art. Mackintosh gives us a rich visual experience that is borne not from a sense of ownership of natural beauty. Instead, she celebrates the rewards of paying close attention.”
Jane O’Neill, Curator

“Her work uses the ancient symbol of the circle, that is alive in this case with a dynamic natural energy. It is a response of wonder and numinous delight to the inner landscape evoked by our environment.”Rod Pattenden, Chairperson, The Blake Prize

“It’s an act of astonishing devotion and design… they are extraordinary exercises in loyalty to place, objects that radiate a joy bound to the natural order of things.”Quentin Chester, Wild

“Droughts & Flooding Rains… spoke strongly of connections to the land, and of knowledge to be shared… a finely crafted selection of twigs cleverly sown to the surface as a mandala for viewing the world.”
Michael Rolfe, CEO, Museums & Galleries NSW (2011 Outback Art Prize Judge)

“I admire how skillfully she merges the fragile and random forms found in nature to create beautiful, timeless art works. They are totally unique and very compelling statements by Janine.”Sam Hill Smith, Director, Hill Smith Gallery

“The larger pattern prevails, but across it run many other rills and currents, worlds within this world. There is endless enticement to contemplation, to going beyond the surface manifestation…this assemblage of blown leaves has become a mandala in which one can envisage the cosmos or encounter the divine.”
Dr Michele A. Connolly, rsj

“There is a very formalist, abstract style at play in this work, and what brings a smile to my face is the use of beetle-chewed leaves, I enjoy the idea of other creatures having helped create art.”
Kathleen von Witt, Director, Hawkesbury Regional Gallery (Judge, The Outback Prize)

“Kangaroo Island has a wild beauty and energy. On the island things still happen naturally – things that humans can’t control… Janine’s attention to detail has taken her preservationist artworks into public and private collections around the world.”
Lance Campbell, Arts Editor, SA Life

“At Janine’s current exhibition… her signature mandalas and other enormous assemblages sit beautifully with samplers – biodiversity versions of the embroidery exercises of previous centuries.”Kathie Stove, in writing

“Janine Mackintosh‘s works in naturally sourced mixed media were stunning on first glance and got better and better the more we learned of her story. Mackintosh’s compositions display a clear dedication to the natural world, their calm and unifying circular forms emphasising the uniqueness of each individual piece of her medium.”Warwick Mihaly, Panfilocastaldi

“The self-proclaimed ‘botanical xenophobe’ now rarely leaves her 800 acre sanctuary on KI – her home, her work and her happiness are all at her fingertips there.”
Tessa Fischer, National Public Relations Manager, Yalumba

“For Janine Mackintosh, the creation of serene and beautiful images is a way to shout out loud. It is telling people to look at our environment and to take care of it. The more exposure her large-scale nature pieces can receive, the more emphatically she can convey her conservation message.”Samela Harris, The Advertiser

“There’s a teasing paradox here. An artist on song, delving ever deeper into the minutiae of her very backyard. An artist producing work that is resolutely true to its site and provocative in its pitch. Yet, at the same, conjuring art objects that reach out with a mystique and universal appeal all of their own… Each is an ardent marker of place at its most granular. “
Quentin Chester, Fleurieu LivingQuentin Chester, Fleurieu Living